Mapleflower's Murderous Kit
by Foreststar of WindClan
Summary: Mapleflower and Pineheart have just had three healthy kits. But when one of them slashes another's belly open, he is cast out. Read a short story on how Clawbelly grew into the murderous cat he is now, from Mapleflower's point of view. One-shot challenge for DuskClan.


Mapleflower watched in horror as the dark gray tom's paw flashed out, his eyes tightly closed, and raked it's short, but sharp claws across her one daughter's belly. The she-cat writhed for a moment, then was still.

"Save her!" Mapleflower screeched at Moonstream.

The medicine cat gently pressed her paws against her daughter's belly, trying to stop the flow of blood and make her breathing start again, but it was too late.

"I'm sorry, Mapleflower," Moonstream meowed. "She's dead."

Pineheart glared at the large dark gray kit that had taken his daughter's life mere seconds after she was born. "I will never forgive this kit," he announced. "He took my daughter's life."

"He will be known as Clawkit," Mapleflower hissed. "So he will never forget that he took a life with his claws."

All three cats glared at the tiny kit, whose face was twisted with fury. Even Mapleflower's other son scooted away from his brother, toward his parents.

Mapleflower poked him, and the dark gray kit let out a yowl of anger.

"He should never have been born," Pineheart hissed.

_This is not my kit, _Mapleflower thought angrily.

**_Five moons later_**

Mapleflower watched coldly from the nursery as Clawkit marched past the other cats in the clans, his head held high. The clan hated and feared him, but he seemed oblivious to them. One senior apprentice had tried to kill him; Thornpaw had ended up in the medicine den with various wounds and scratches. He now had a long scar running down his back, put there by Clawkit. Despite his murder of Mapleflower's daughter, whom they had named Sweetkit, she still took care of him as a kit. The other warriors didn't understand why she nursed that monster.

Barkkit, Clawkit's littermate, pressed up against Mapleflower.

Clawkit marched up, a shrew in his mouth. He dropped it and began eating. Barkkit edged closer to his brother.

"Can I have some?" Barkkit asked.

Clawkit snarled at him. "Go get your own!"

Barkkit shrank back and Clawkit resumed eating. _What turned him so nasty?_ Mapleflower wondered.

"Come on," Mapleflower soothed. "Let's go get something to eat."

Barkkit followed her closely, casting frightened glances behind him. Every moon, Barkkit gathered enough courage to ask him something. Clawkit always snarled and growled at him to go away. Once he even attacked Barkkit, but Pineheart had stepped in and separated his sons before anything serious happened.

Mapleflower picked up a vole, Barkkit's favorite, and headed back to the nursery. Barkkit was giving Clawkit gloomy looks. Despite Clawkit's attitude toward him, Barkkit still wanted to be his friend.

Mapleflower dropped the vole and lay down, watching the clan doing their normal routine.

Clawkit marched past them, nose in the air. Mapleflower glared at him. _Even if the clan fears you, you don't have to act so superior!_

**_One and a half moons later_**

Clawpaw rushed in, his fur bloody, dragging the limp body of his mentor, Iceclaw. Mapleflower rushed forward and sniffed his wounds. They held a faint scent of Clawpaw, mostly covered by fox scent. _He must have used fox dung._

Moonstream inspected the dead warrior. "How did this happen?" Oakstar thundered.

"I was hunting when I heard a screech. I ran over and saw Iceclaw, lying on the ground. He stank of fox," Clawpaw meowed, not a hint of sorrow in his voice.

Mapleflower glared at her kit. _You're lying and you know it!_

Oakstar leaped up onto the Highledge. "Let all cats gather beneath Highledge for a clan meeting!"

ThunderClan poked their heads out of their dens, then padded over and sat patiently. Barkpaw nuzzled up against Mapleflower. He was staring around in fright.

"Iceclaw is dead," Oakstar announced. ThunderClan gasped. "He was killed by a fox." His tone said that he didn't believe it, but Clawpaw intimidated everyone in his clan.

Several cats glared at the gray apprentice, but he continued washing himself.

"Clawpaw," Oakstar continued. Clawpaw looked up. "Since Iceclaw is dead, you need a new mentor. Volunteers?"

Gleampelt, the deputy, stepped forward. "If no one else wants to, I will." His expression told the clan that he didn't want to, but he knew that Clawpaw needed a mentor. He was merely fulfilling his duty to the clan, the training apprentices part.

"Very well," Oakstar meowed. "Gleampelt, until Clawpaw receives his warrior name, you will be his new mentor."

Mapleflower watched as Gleampelt and Clawpaw touched noses._ I hope you don't kill my brother, too._

_**Seven moons later**_

Mapleflower sat guard at the entrance with Pineheart, her ears pricked.

Clawbelly had been exiled a moon ago after she had forced him to admit that he had killed Iceclaw, the apprentice that had attacked him as a kit, Thornheart, the four elders Snowpool, Dewfrost, Lilyflower, and Seedtail, and Redfur, and Carpfur, and Mapleflower's second daughter from her second litter, Flowerkit. He had then tried to kill Mapleflower, but she got away and told Oakstar. The brown leader had been horrified that Clawbelly had killed nine of his cats and he never realized that it was him behind all of them, as well as Clawbelly trying to kill his own mother.

Clawbelly's defense had been that they were all weak, cowardly, fools. Then he proclaimed that he had only tried to kill Mapleflower because she had seen him murder Flowerkit. She had gone missing, so Mapleflower followed her scent, which was mingled with Clawbelly's, and found her vicious son slicing her belly open. Clawbelly had spotted her and ran after his mother, clearly intent on killing her, but Mapleflower was faster than him and got to camp before he could kill her.

Oakstar had sentenced him to death, for all the kills, but Clawbelly had battled his way out and fled.

Mapleflower was convinced that Clawbelly would return and try to destroy ThunderClan. Oakstar wasn't so certain, but he had two guards protecting the camp now.

"Mapleflower?" Barkfur meowed quietly, padding up to sit beside her. "Do you think Clawbelly is dead?"

Barkfur still cared for his brother, even though he knew what Clawbelly had done.

As if on cue, a large dark gray shape padded up, it's form shadowed.

"Dead?" It meowed. "Of course I'm not dead. ThunderClan couldn't kill me. The life of a rogue didn't either."

Mapleflower gasped. _Clawbelly_! Pineheart slowly back into the camp. Cats appeared around Clawbelly.

"Kill them," the evil gray tom ordered.

The cats lunged at the three kin. "Invaders!" Mapleflower yowled before five cats piled up onto her. Three of the cats on her raced into the camp. Two left.

Mapleflower bit down on one's paw, then slashed her claws at the other. The cats yowled and their grips loosened. Mapleflower struggled out of under them.

From then on, Mapleflower just slashed and slashed blindly. Occasionally, she saw Clawbelly, or a clanmate grappling with an unknown cat.

"Frostpaw!" She yowled to her apprentice. "Get help!"

The white 'paw raced away, three warriors thundering after her. _I hope she makes it. Otherwise, ThunderClan will be gone._

A dark gray paw flashed toward her and then darkness enclosed her. _Clawbelly_. Mapleflower's last thought before she was unconscious was, _Why would you do this, Clawbelly?_

Mapleflower woke in the medicine den. Moonstream was bent over another cat. _Pineheart_. Mapleflower scrambled up. Her various wounds stung, but she ignored them.

"Mapleflower!" Moonstream meowed, spotting her. "You're..."

"How is he?" Mapleflower interrupted.

"Pineheart is fine," Moonstream purred. "He just got a bad slash. Barkfur is outside," she added.

Mapleflower stumbled out. Barkfur was sitting right outside the camp entrance, his gaze distant and sorrowful.

"Barkfur," she meowed.

Barkfur turned, startled. "Mapleflower." He nuzzled her shoulder. "I'm glad you're alright."

"What's wrong?" Mapleflower asked.

Barkfur sighed. "It's me. What I did in the battle."

"Did... Did you kill Clawbelly?" Mapleflower was shocked. She knew Barkfur loved Clawbelly more than she ever had.

Barkfur nodded. "I couldn't just let him kill you. You're my mother. You always showed more love to me than he did." He sighed again. "I know that he doesn't deserve this, that he will go the to Place Of No Stars, the Dark Forest, but I can't help but wish that he was different, that he could rest forever in the stars."

Mapleflower gazed up at the bright sky. "If only that were true."


End file.
